Category: Dealing with Insurance Adjuster

Top 3 Months in which Insurance Adjusters are Swamped and Want to Settle

There are two times a year that the adjusters are swamped. November/December due to Christmas and March because lawyers have to pay taxes. Everyone wants to settle before Christmas, so they can spend more on the holidays. Taxes are due in April, so lawyers want to settle more cases to pay their taxes due in April.

So if an adjuster gets say an average of 25 cases to be settled a month, the number could double during those months. Also in November/December, adjusters like everyone else wants time off for vacation, holidays etc, so could limit the time they have to review their claims or have someone else try and pick up the slack. And as MSAD stated, it depends on the type of case, injuries etc that they review.

Some cases may have to go through several people for authority and that adds time, since until management reviews, then nothing can be done to make an offer or reject it. But you have one thing in your favor and that is that most companies want to close as many claims by the end of they year and they push the adjuster to do so. But that does not mean that the offer could come before Christmas, only that an offer could be made and the check does not come till after the 1st of the year, but then the case is closed and off the books.

Also, say the adjuster calls the lawyer on Wednesday, but they play phone tag back and forth, could be another week before they actually talk to each other. Then the lawyer calls back and once again, phone tag back and forth. Your lawyer will call you when they make an offer, since by law he is obligated to do so. good luck

3 Effective Ways To Deal With An Insurance Adjuster

1. Take notes – you can be legally liable if you RECORD the conversation in audio or video format, but you are free to keep notes. In my case, once I felt like I was being jerked around by the insurance adjuster dealing with my case, I began a journal recording all conversations, phone conferences, meetings, numbers, expenses, keeping all receipts and so-on. No one else will do it for you and you will be in big trouble if you need to recollect a certain detail one day and have no record and/or receipt of it in your notes. Simply said, you cannot remember it all, but you better believe when I tell you that you will need all the details you can recall.

2. If the insurance people seem to be difficult from the very beginning, please understand for your own sake, that it will only get worse. Get a lawyer. Continue reading 3 Effective Ways To Deal With An Insurance Adjuster

10 Benefits of Handling Your Own Personal Injury Claim

1. No lawyer will ever know your case better than you do
2. Only you can know the extent of loss and suffering
3. No one is going to fight harder for your case than you
4. You can give your case top priority regardless of how big or small it may be
5. You won’t have to worry about working with an incompetent or dishonest person
6. You know that your best interest will be top concern
7. The middleman is cut out and you won’t have to wait on back and forth communication
8. Delay tactics of lawyers are no longer
9. You won’t have to worry about being stuck in a non-working relationship
10. You don’t have to pay any attorney fees!!!!!

What to Do When Accepting a Car Settlement

This is NOT your first concern right after the wreck – your health and pain is – and the insurance knows this very well. They use this state of you being in shock to their advantage. So, they want to throw you off your game and sidetrack you with a much smaller issue like the condition of your car. They will present it as an urgent time-limited matter (which is not the truth) in hopes that you are not thinking straightly to make a reasonable judgment.

When you come to think about it, however, settling for the vehicle is a big deal, because living in most places in the United States, you will NOT be able to get around for treatment or work without a vehicle, and most importantly you will not be able to able to continue your fight with the insurance. This is especially true for some new insurance policies where FULL-COVERAGE does not include a rental. Continue reading What to Do When Accepting a Car Settlement

3 People Types who Get the Runaround from Insurance Company

If you are breathing – First of all, it is nearly a given that if you are breathing and you are attempting to get your insurance company to pay up, you will get the runaround. They will employ some tactic to get you to settle with the least amount of loss to their pockets and this will involve getting you to agree on an amount quick, but drawing out the payment process until the last hour.

HEY IF THEY GIVE YOU THE MONEY, THEY CAN’T MAKE ANY INTEREST OFF IT.

If you are a woman – I know this is a sexist statement, but I have found that there is great prejudice towards females when it comes to a situation in which you are negotiating. Whether you are buying a car, coming to an agreed price on selling an item or reaching a settlement, most times a male will have the more dominant advantage. Therefore, if you have the opportunity for your husband or male presence in your life be your voice for negotiation, you will more than likely be better off.

You might think that the victim card may be one to play and a female will have the greater advantage, but THIS IS NOT TRUE. Insurance personal are trained to leave ALL EMOTIONS out of the deal. I don’t know how, but they truly are trained to be cold blooded. But I guess you would be too if your job depended on it.

If you are young or look young – Going up against an inexperienced person is a plus for any type of negotiator. And most of the time if you are young it is true that you do not know your rights and might take an unfair settlement by being easily tricked to do so.

If you are insecure – If you do not speak with confidence or have any type of non-verbal behavior that suggest you are non-confrontational, this is a red flag that you can be taken advantage of. If you want to get any type of fair settlement you will have to overcome any type of insecurities or social challenges. Suck it up and it will pay off.

Take some Confidence Training if you have to.

Tactics Your Lawyer May Use To Get You to Settle

Remember that lawyers much prefer out of court settlements because this goes as a win on their record as opposed to rolling the dice and possibly having a loss in court.

 They may scare you will possible future fees of court, depositions, mediation, travel expenses etc, etc so that you will take the settlement. This is true especially if your lawyer knows your financial situation.

 If your lawyer is aware of financial struggles, they may attempt to use a settlement offer as an incentive for you to be able to pay your expensive and incurred medical bills so that you are not turned over to collectors and therefore having much greater expenses.

 Your lawyer may try to tell you that your case is not worth more than the settlement amount and you should quickly take the first offer. Remember, the quicker you take the offer, the quicker the lawyer gets paid and can move to their next victim.

 Time is money for a lawyer and they will most definitely attempt to convince you that if you do not take an out-of-court settlement then your case could possible draw out for years.

 After further review of your case and closer examination of your doctors’ reports it is their opinion that the opposing counseling has a better argument for a jury, so you should take the settlement offer.

 If your lawyer tells you they will go pro bono just to get you to settle, this is a big red flag that something is not right. Lawyers just don’t give up the opportunity to get paid.

 And if your lawyer says they are going to quite on you if you don’t settle this is an even bigger red flag and grounds for disbarment.

 Again your lawyer may use another type of scare tactic that there is a Statue of Limitations coming up and we will need to settle. Of course this is not true, but if you are not aware of the law, then you are overly trusting of your lawyer.

 They pay play the trust card in which they say I’m doing what’s in your best interest and just trust me because I have done this for “x” amount of years. So I’m telling you to settle.

 Or they may use their excessive knowledge and experience to point out that you don’t know what you are talking about and should take their advice. In a polite way, they are calling you an idiot.

If you feel that your lawyer is working against you and constantly trying to get you to settle, there is probably a reason. Perhaps they are incompetent and need to be fired, or they may be in a type of dual relationship with the apposing counseling. But regardless of the excuse, don’t be blinding by these overly used tactics. Only settle if you feel that it is in your best interest.

Top 8 Secretes of an Insurance Adjuster

I would personally hate to be an insurance adjuster. They are highly trained to get a quick settle for the least amount of money regardless of personal loss and damages.

They have many tricks up their sleeves including:

PROPERTY DAMAGES ASPECTS

1. Getting you to sign a document for the auto settlement but it is really a complete release. Meaning that they are not responsible for your personal injuries. Never sign anything in haste. Never sign any thing that says “GENERAL RELEASE”. Get a second opinion. And don’t sign it if it smells fishy.
2. They will catch you at awkward times like right before work, at the end of the office day when there is a rush to make a decision, or the day after the wreck when you are not thinking correctly.
3. They will attempt to get out of responsibility as quickly as possible and be very forceful and come close to threatening so that you will settle. Don’t worry. Slow things down as much as you would like.
4. They will use intimidating, unfamiliar legal terms so that you feel pressured to listen to them as an authority.

PERSONAL INJURY ASPECTS

5. They may indirectly attack that you are seeking treatment via a chiropractor; however they will always begin by saying something like “I can’t tell you what type of treatment to seek, but if you go to “X” type of treatment we do not guarantee coverage.
6. They will try to give you a somewhat tempting settlement before you are completing better.
7. They keep a great distance so that nothing becomes personal. They will not listen to your pain and suffering and disregard it as any part of any settlement offer.
8. The insurance adjuster may call your attending physician to negotiate your medical costs behind your back.